FMA: The Introduction of Pain and Torture
by Ferran of Shadows
Summary: Since Ed and Al are having a hard time finding the Philosopher's Stone, the go after a new stone that Dante invented the Scholar's Stone, a more powerful version of the Philosopher's Stone. Her stone was burgaled, and it went deep into a forest...
1. The Meeting

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse were one day walking down a tunnel in Lab 4.

"You know," Ed said to his brother,"I thought Lab 4 burned down. At least, that's what everybody else has told me."

"I know," Al said in response,"Maybe it was a different Lab they're talking about."

"Maybe..."

They continued walking down the tunnel until a sudden explosion blew off half of the wall. Red Water was pouring everywhere.

"C'mon, Al!" Ed called to his brother.

They ran back the way they came as fast as they could and were stopped by a young-looking woman with long, jet-black hair.

"Going somwhere, Edward?" she asked Ed.

"Well I'm trying to escape the RED WATER RUSHING DOWN THE BLOWN-UP TUNNEL!" Ed said impatiently, trying to get past the strange woman.

"Tsk, tsk,tsk, Edward," the woman said."Not so fast. You don't want more limbs to be lost, now do you?"

Edward stared back at her angrily.

"I didn't think so," she said."You better follow me."

"What the heck do you want with us?" Ed yelled.

"You'll see soon enough," the woman said.

With a snap of her fingers, they were whisked away to what seemed like an abandoned council room.

"My name is Pain," the woman said."My first name is Nigaya. If you don't understand what I mean by first name, maybe this will help clear things up. I am a himunculous. I have been traveling with Lust and Gluttony. I wish to come with you on your search for the Scholar's Stone."

"Lust already tried to get Envy to disguise himself as Winry and come with us, but that didn't work out too well for her. And now she's sent you do it? C'mon, I was in the middle of doing something, so if you can just snap me back to-"

"Listen you little pipsqueak-"

"Who are you calling as small as an ant you can kill with a magnifying glass!"

"What are you talking about? I said nothing of the sort!"

"You might as well have!"

"Both of you, stop it!" Alphonse yelled."Pain, we don't want to be rude, but we can't have anybody extra holding us down on our journey. We aren't even searching for the stone right now. We're doing something for Teacher."

"Alright, then. Even though I know where to look for the Scholar's Stone..."

"You do?" Ed and Al said in unison.

"Yes," Pain said."We could search for the stone together."

"Oh, yeah right!" Ed said."I thought you looked shifty the first time I laid eyes on you!" All the sudden, his prosthetic metal leg creaked. A bolt had fallen out.

"Dangit, Wrath!" Ed said angrily."I thought it was an equivilant exchange..."

"Wrath?" Pain said.

"Yes, Wrath, the himunculous that took my right arm and leg. Well didn't technically TAKE them but has them."

"Wrath...Wrath is my nephew. I'm Izumi's dead sister. She probably has never mentioned me. Our mother tried to bring me back, and that's why I'm like this. Wrath is Izumi's deceased child, so he would be my nephew. My mother took a bone from herself to bring me back, so she died from collapse of weight. I have another side to me; my mother's side which I want to bring out and get to know."

"Oh," Ed said sheepishly,"so Lust has nothing to do with this? Sorry I misjudged you."

"That's alright Edward. I didn't give you a very good first impression, whisking you off like that,"

Pain said.

"Brother," Alphonse whisered to Ed."Should we trust her?"

"I think we should at least give her a chance," Ed said.


	2. The Seven Sins

Chapter 2: The 7 Deadly Sins

"Okay," Edward Elric said to the himunculous Pain"You can come with us"  
"Thank you, Elric brothers," Pain said.  
She snapped her fingers once more and in an instant they were in the middle of a forest.  
"This is the Dissapora Forest," Pain said."Could you tell me more about Izumi's 'task"  
"Well," Ed started,"as you probably already know, Teacher is a great alchemist; she taught Al and I all we know. She asked us to go to Lab 4 to gather information on the Scholar's Stone from Marcoh's report. He had a lot of stuff on it. It will greatly help us on our journey to search for the Stone"  
"I see"  
"Could you snap us to Lab 4's library and report document room"  
"I can't snap you anywhere I haven't been or can't see," Pain said.  
"Where CAN you snap us to in Lab 4?" Al asked Pain.  
"I can snap you directly in front of the door of the library, but the doors are bolted shut," Pain replied.  
"Nothing a little alchemy can't fix!" Ed said happily.  
"You don't understand," Pain said,"there are barriers around the entire room; no such kind of alchemy exists that can break through the barriers.  
"I could find someone who has been in the room and steal their memory and then snap us there, but I don't know where to find someone like that"  
"Have you ever been to Saratown?" Ed asked Pain.  
"Not that I know of," Pain replied.  
"That's where half of the retired scientists from the Labs reside. Surely we could find someone from Lab 4"  
"Really"  
"Really"  
"But Brother," Al said,"we were banned from Saratown a long time ago"  
"You're right, Al, I forgot," Ed said, scratching his head,"...but Pain hasn't"  
"So it's decided," Pain said,"We're going to Saratown. I'll snap you two there right now. There's something I want to do here first"  
"But I thought you said you'd never been to"  
Snap.  
Pain walked for at least five minutes until she came across a gravestone with her mother's name, Nagazumi, inscribed into it.  
"Mother," Pain whispered,"why did you do it? You should've left me there, dead. You deserved life mor than I did. You sacrificed yourself for me"  
"A touching moment..." a voice said.  
"Wh-who's there"  
Greed appeared, seeming to dissolve from the air itself. Lust, Gluttony, Envy, and Wrath.  
"Ah!" Pain said, relieved."My old friends"  
"So you got the Elrics to do it?" Greed said.  
"Yes, they'll lead us to the Scholar's Stone in no time at all"  
"I'm glad," Lust said."We'll finally be human and not himunculi"  
"Oh, man," Gluttony said."I wanted to eat those two Elrics"  
"You'd have a stomachache from eating the metal one, so don't try it." Lust said.  
"Where's Sloth?" asked Pain.  
"I had her do a little 'errand' for me," Greed said sneakily.  
"Ed and Al are safely in Saratown. They're looking for you, Pain." Sloth said, coming from nowhere.  
"Good," Greed said."Pain, I'm surprised you got them to Saratown without ever even hearing of the place"  
"It took a lot of energy, but it'll be worth it in the end. I gave them disguises, since they were banned from that town," Pain said.  
"You know," Wrath said,"you could snap me to tha Saratown and let me get what's rightfully mine"  
Wrath, settle it down, will you?" Envy said, annoyed."If you're talking about Ed's body parts, forget it! As much as I hate to admit it, we need him. So if you want to become a human, SHUT-UP"  
"Sorry, Envy," Wrath said. Sloth held him close to comfort him from being yelled at.

MEANWHILE, IN SARATOWN...

"Wow," Ed said."She even got us disguises"  
"I still think she's kinda shifty," Al said.  
"Don't worry! I don't think she's evil like the rest of them. At least, she doesn't seem bad"  
"I wonder where she is? She said she had something to do first, and it shoulsn't have taken this long. I don't see her anywhere"  
"Maybe she's in disguise, too"  
"Well, if she was," Al said,"she'd be looking for us. Hey, why am I wearing a dress? Is Pain some twisted freak"  
"Nah, I don't think so, Al!" Ed said jokingly."She thinks you're a girl"  
"WHAAAAAAATT"  
"Ahhh...Just messin' with you, Al"  
Ed and Al wa.lked around the town for a while, getting strange looks from the town civilians on the street.  
"This is getting ridiculous!" Ed yelled suddenly."I'm getting rid of this disguise; or at least putting it over my right arm." He pulled his cloak down over his arm. "There, much better"  
They walked along the road until they heard a familiar voice.  
"Edward? Alphonse? What are you doing here"  
They turned around to see Colonel Roy Mustang himself.  
"I'd like to ask you the same, Colonel," Ed said slyly.  
"Well, I'm here in search for Scar"  
"Well, I'm here in search of a friend"  
"Wait a minute," Colonel Mustang said."I thought you two were banned from this place"  
"Yeah,"Ed said quietly."We were snuck in by a himunculus by the name of Pain"  
"Pain?" Colonel Mustang said with a horrified look on his face. 


	3. The Truth

Chapter 3: The Truth

"Pain," Colonel Roy Mustang said,"is an evil himunculus, no matter what she says, she's evil all the way. She travels with 6 of the himunculi, excluding Pride. There's another one named Torture, which very little is known about him. Pain is the reeincarnation of Izumi Carter's dead sister, Nigaya. She believed Torture, who was once called Bruce, was her soul mate and the two were soon to be wed. Nobody knows exactly how either of them died"  
"Well," Ed said with a sigh,"I've never seen nor heard of this Torture person, but we'll keep an eye out for him"  
"Be careful while searching for him, Elrics. Do you know why they call him Torture"  
"I don't think I wanna know," Ed said."C'mon Al"  
"Wait, Ed." Colonel Mustang said."Let me come with you. There's really nothing I can do back at the Military Organization Headquarters right now about Scar. They'll have to depend on themselves to search for him"  
"He just goes on and on, doesn't he?" Ed whispered to his brother, Alphonse.  
"Oh all right, Colonel, you can come with us,"Ed said."What harm could it do"  
"Colonel," First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye said as she came running up to him,"we have some information on the whereabouts of Scar, sir"  
"Good, good," Roy said."Elrics, you follow us"  
They walked and followed Riza until they reached an old-looking shop with a sign they were unable to read.  
"The man who lives here is a close relative to Scar," Riza said.  
"He used to work in Lab 4, right?" Ed said.  
"Yes," Riza said."How'd you know"  
"Lucky guess"  
"Colonel Roy Mustang, I repeat, Colonel Roy Mustang," the voice of someone talking through a walky-talky said."Your help is needed by Dock #6, I repeat, your help is neede by Dock #6"  
"Riza, come," Roy said."Elrics, you stay here until I get back"  
Roy and Riza left to help at Dock #6.  
"Well, now what?" Alphonse Elric said.  
"I guess we should go inside," Ed said to his brother.  
"Hello?" Al called as they walked into the house."Is anyone there"  
"Yes," a buff-looking man said."This is my house/shop. Are you friends with that kind military woman"  
"Yes," Al said slowly."Who are you"  
"I'm Bronco. I'm 62 years old, but you can't tell because I work-out. Who might you be"  
"Well"  
"We're two alchemists; our names aren't important," Ed interuppted Al quickly.  
"O.K., then. I'm a close relative to Scar; second cousin or something like that. Riza, or whatever her name is, asked me a lot of questions about him, I figure you want to know the same stuff I told her. My half-brother was closer to Scar than anyone else, including his own mother"  
"What is your half-brother's name?" Ed asked him.  
"Bruce," Bronco replied."He was a very kind man; always looking for ways to help people. He died 4 or 5 years ago"  
"I see," Ed said."You have the Ishbaalan skin tone, but not the eye color. Are you a mix"  
"Yes, I am," Bronco replied."If you want to know, I worked as a scientist down in Lab 4 for 30 some years. I retired at age 51. I was pretty top of the line, but I got a heart attack and retired early. Nowadays, I'm a blacksmith, selling custom weapons and armor. Did you, by chance, get that armor here?" he said while pionting at Alphonse.  
"Uh...Uh-" Al stuttered.  
"No, he didn't," Ed replied for Al.  
"Can you even talk?" Bronco asked Al.  
"Yes!" Al responded."I can talk"  
"Well, why's your kid answering for you"  
"WHAT!" Ed yelled."HE'S MY YOUNGER BROTHER! AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING A KID! A DWARF! SHORTY! A SHRIMP"  
"Um...uh...I never said all that stuff"  
"S...Sorry...Bronco," Al said."He doesn't like being reffered to as a kid or short or he freaks out"  
"I see..." Bronco replied.  
"I'm 15 you little"  
"Hey!" Bronco said."None of that, you hear"  
"Ed! Al!" Colonel Roy Mustang said.  
"Oh," Ed said."Colonel Mustang, when did you get here"  
"About two seconds ago," Roy said."I could hear you all the way across town"  
"I'm very self-concious about my height,"Ed said.  
"Anyway," Roy said,"the accident at Dock #6 wasn't too serious. A child who is trying to learn alchemy accidently transmuted a fire extinguisher into a flame thrower and burned his hand. 1st degree burn; not serious at all"  
"Colonel," Ed said,"Can I speak to you alone"  
"Of course," Roy replied.  
They walked to a corner of the house.  
"Do you think," Ed said,"that Bronco's brother Bruce is Pain's Torture"  
"It's very likely," Roy said.  
"Bronco," Ed called to the shopkeeper,"could you keep an eye out for my mother? Her name is Pain. She has long black hair and two markings underneath her right eye"  
"Of course I'll look out for her," Bronco told Ed.  
"Could you tell her we went to Dock #6"  
"Of course I will! I guess this means you guys will be leaving, right"  
Yeah," Ed said,"we'll be seeing you!"

MEANWHILE, IN DISSAPORA FOREST...

"I'm so glad," Lust said,"that Dante was able to bring us back"  
"Yeah," Envy said,"but I still hate who she loves, that dirty, rotten, crackhead Honhemheim"  
"Isn't he on the other side of the gate?" Wrath asked."I thought he might be, because I think I saw him pass me while I was there"  
"Yes, he is on the other side," Lust said,"I was there when he left"  
"Ah," everyone heard Pride say,"my comrades"  
"What do you want, Pride?" Envy asked him.  
"Envy,"Fuhrer Pride said,"the military has become a burden. Kill me so it will be over"  
"I thought Colonel Mustang already took care of that..." Lust said "He did, but that ugly old hag Dante had to"  
"HOW DARE YOU CALL MY MOTHER AN UGLY OLD HAG!" Envy cried.  
As Envy said that, he took out his knife and stuck it through Fuhrer Pride's chest several times.  
"Serves you right, you ugly Fuhrer. You never made much of a leader anyway!" Envy said, enraged.  
"Envy," Sloth said softly,"why do you hate Honhemhiem so much"  
"He is technically my father," Envy replied,"and he left my mother, Dante, for a woman named Trisha. She had two children, the two Elric brats, but she died. Then the Elric brothers tried to bring her bac"  
Envy stared at Sloth for a while and took ouut a picture of the woman his father left Dante for and compared Sloth to it.  
"Y-y...you're...you're Trisha! So those two brats are my half-brothers"  
"I suppose..." Sloth replied.  
"Lust?" Gluttony said,"Can I eat him?" he pointed to Pride's dead body.  
"Yes, if you want..." 


	4. The Plan

Chapter 4: The Plan

"Why did you tell Bronco thet Pain was our mother?" Al asked Ed.  
"Well we don't want him thinking we're bounty hunters or something," Ed replied.  
"Edward, Alphonse," Colonel Mustang said,"this is where I must leave you. Good luck on finding the Scholar's Stone"  
"Thank you," Ed and Al said in unison.  
"Al," Ed said to his brother as Roy and Riza were walking away,"Once you find the Scholar's Stone you'll be back to normal"  
"If only Dante had invented the Stone sooner," Al said,"then we'd have been able to bring Mom back the right way"  
"Technicall, she is back. But as a himunculous who doesn't even remember her own children in the motherly way. She remembers us, but she thinks we're evil"  
"With the Stone we could probably fix her despite the fact that she's a himunculous."

"Do you think that I will let Pain get in the way of my revenge? You gotta be kidding me!" Envy said to Lust as they were talking alone.  
"We won't let you touch her or the Elrics, even if we have to bound and gag you," Lust replied.  
"Neh. Whatever"  
"I'd better get going then," Pain said as she overheard their conversation."Those two will be wondering where I am"  
Pain snapped her fingers and she was on the outskirts of Saratown. She walked around a bit until she came across an old-looking house with a sign that faintly read "Custom Blacksmith Products.  
"Maybe there in here..." Pain said to herself."Hello? Is anybody in here?" She rung the bell at a nearby desk.  
"Yes?" Bronco said while coming out of what seemed like a backroom."How may I help you"  
"I'm looking for two boys. One's tall and wears armor. The other is short and has a blond braid"  
"Who are you calling small enough to fit in a milk bottle?" Pain heard Ed scream across town.  
"Yeah...," Bronco said,"they went to Dock #6. They said to tell you that. You gave birth to two fine young men"  
"Huh?...Gave birth?...Um, yes... thank you. I'd better get going then"  
Pain quickly walked out of the house/shop and snapped herself to Dock #6, which she could see in the distance.  
"Edward? Alphonse?" she yelled.  
"Yes, Pain?" Al asked her as she turned around to see them.  
"Sorry I took so long," Pain said.  
"It's okay," Ed said."We found out some interesting things"  
"Oh, yes? Like what"  
"Oh, nothing you probably don't already know," Al replied.  
"We know about Bruce and the other sins," Ed said slyly."Take us to Torture, And maybe we'll spare your life. We'd like to know more about the two of you"  
"Why should I care if I die again? It's not like you won't kill Torture anyway. That way, we'll be together again at peace in the afterlife"  
Edward drew his blade from his automail arm.  
"Oh, so it has to be like that, huh?" Pain said."Prepare to die, Elrics"  
There was an explosion of bright white light(HEHE! It rhymes!) and all the sudden a figure emerged from it.  
"I've got the Scholar's Stone," Izumi Curtis said weakly."Take it, you two. I don't have much time left"  
"TEACHER! What has Pain done to you! Teacher!" Edward yelled.  
Izumi's body turned to dust slowly and left the Scolar's Stone behind.  
"Do you think it's the real thing?" Al asked.  
"Only one way yo find out," Ed said. He picked it up and threw it hard to the ground. It smashed to pieces.  
"It's a fake!" Al said.  
"Pain!" Ed screamed."When I find you I won't just kill you, but I'll torture you to death"  
"Ed, calm down!" Al said to his older brother.  
"You're right, Al," Ed said shakily."I need to stop overreacting so much"  
They stood staring at the broken fake stone for a few minutes.  
"I thought she said she'd kill us," Ed said."She didn't put up much of a fight"  
"I don't think that was Teacher, either," Alphonse said.  
"Yeah, she wouldn't have crumbled like that. The last time we saw her she was in perfect condition, depite the no internal organs part"  
"Pain said in the beginning she was a shape-shifter. She can probably change objects, too. She has a lot of powers for a himunculous," Al said.  
"She must have changed the barrel of fish that used to be there into an imitation Teacher," Ed said.  
"I wonder where she went"  
"Probably snapped herself somewhere"  
"The Dissapora Forest!" Ed and Al said in unison.

IN THE DISSAPORA FOREST...

"Greed?" Pain said aloud, but no one was in sight."Is anyone here? Envy? Lust"  
All the sudden she heard yells coming from a distant clearing she could barely see thruogh a clump of bushes. She snapped herself to the space in the bushes next to the clearing. She used up most of her energy on concentrating on the spot in the bushes.  
"Pain! Oh, I'm so glad you're here..." Torture said."Envy is trying to harm Sloth for supposedly taking his father away from him"  
"We'd better help out then," Pain said.  
They ran into the clearing where the yells were coming from.  
"Envy! Stop it, now! She has done nothing wrong." Lust yelled."Don't make me use these," she said while extending her dagger-like fingers.  
"Lust, shut-up," Envy said."You're not helping anything"  
"Sloth, Rockbell's," Pain said while snapping her fingers.  
"What'd you do that for?" Envy said.  
"We cannot have you harm her. She plays an important part in Greed's plan. I sent her to the Rockbell's house." Pain replied.  
"Why'd you send her there"  
"Greed was going to send her ther sooner or later. It's important she remembers her past"  
"Why don't we send her to her own sons?" Envy said.  
"They are already onto our plan. They found out about Bruce." 


	5. Lessons Learned

Chapter 5: Lessons Learned

"I wonder why she sent me here," Sloth said to herself."Pinako, I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here." As she said this, she pulled her turtleneck up more, just in case someone was thinking she was a himunculous, which she is. She didn't want them to know that she was. They'd probably kick her out onto the streets.  
"Oh, it's no problem!" Pinako said."Winry needs some company, anywho"  
"I do not!" Winry said, nudging her grandmother."Where'd you come from, anyway?" she asked Sloth.  
"Well, I don't remember too much of my past," Sloth said."I remember I was happy"  
"What's your name?" Winry asked Sloth.  
"Juliet," Sloth replied.  
"You remind me so much of two of my friends' mother. She passed away a few years ago," Winry said.  
"Oh, really?" Sloth said."What are your friends' names"  
"Well, there's Ed, who's kinda on the short side, with a temper to match. He's got blonde hair and always has it in a braid. He also has a prosthetic metal right arm and left leg. Al is Ed's younger brother, but he's most likely taller than him. His soul is embedded into a suit of armor, so we don't know how much he's changed since the 'incident'," Winry explained.  
"'Incident?'" Sloth said with curiosity.  
"After their mother died, they tried to use alchemy to bring her back and she was turned into a himunculous. I don't expect you to know what that is, but that's okay"  
"I know more about them then you know, Winry," Sloth said quietly.  
"What"  
"Nothing"  
"Well, I hope you like our dinner; I made general tsou, sushi, pork lou mein, and some chicken broth. I know, it's mostly chinese cuisene, but it's Winry's favorite," Pinako Rockbell said.

IN THE FOREST...

"Pain, what are you trying to pull? What plan? And how come Greed hasn't told the rest of us?" Envy said, enraged.  
"Torture and I technically the leader of us and Greed has told me a plan and I think it's a rather good one. You will play along with it whether you like it or not," Pain said.  
"Envy," Lust said quietly,"you should listen to her"  
"And why should I"  
"Because if you don't, I'll have Gluttony eat you and you'll be stuck in his bottomless pit forever"  
"Feh"  
"Hey, what yall talking about?" Greed said caually as he walked up to them."Where's Sloth"  
"I did what you asked," Pain said.  
"Already! I was thinking maybe in a month or two"  
"Well, the sooner the better"  
"So, Greed, what exactly is your plan?" Lust said eagerly.  
"Just wait... you'll see."

IN SARATOWN...

"That was retarded..." Alphonse Elric said."to leave us a fake stone"  
"Well, what we should be concentrating on is finding the Dissapora Forest," Edward said."Where do you think it could be"  
"I dunno. Maybe we should ask someone for a map," Alphonse said.  
"Yeah, maybe Bruno has one"  
"Most likely. He's been here most of his life, anyway"  
They went to the blacksmith shop and knocked on the door. Nobody answered, so they just went inside. What they saw horrified them.  
"What the hell is that!" Edward yelled, pointing to the huge spot of blood, but no dead body."Someone must have been murdered"  
"But I don't understand! There is no body!" Al said.  
"The murderer might have taken the body with them"  
"I'll save you the trouble of looking. I did it." Al suddenly heard Ed say, but in a deeper, more mature sounding voice.  
"Brother?" Al said, worried.  
"What the hell! Get out of my head!" the real Ed's voice said."Who are you"  
"I'm the Torture you've been looking for. Well, you've found me, now what? There's nothing you can do to me, unless you kill your dear brother!" Torture said.  
"You have a sick mind!" Al yelled.  
"So you're Torture..." Ed said."Why don't you come out and fight like a real man"  
"Oh, don't worry about that!" All the sudden Ed started running into the wall repeatedly, yelling in pain.  
"AHHHH!" Ed screamed.  
"I can switch around everything in your brain. Isn't that nice? Oh, and do you want to know who's blood that is? It's Bruno's," Torture said with pleasure."See, metal one? There's nothing wrong with killing your brother! I killed mine. Why don't you do the same"  
"IT'S NOT NICE NOW GET OUT OF MY DAMN HEAD!" Ed said while Torture was controlling Ed to hit Al with a newly made axe.  
All the sudden, a shadow loomed over the three of them and they heard a snap. They seemed to be in a field.  
"Pain! So glad you could make it!" Torture said.  
"Pain!" Al said."I thought we could trust you"  
"Well, you were wrong. Don't you know that all himunculi want to be human? We will do whatever it takes. The first plan was going great, until that oaf Bruno had to tell you about Torture. We were tricking you to taking us to the Scholar's Stone"  
"Bruno never told us about Bruce becoming a himunculi!" Edward said.  
"Oh...well he's alread dead; no use crying over spilled blood"  
"You morbid little"  
"Hey! None of that, you hear?" Torture said.  
"So you really are brothers...he said the same thing to me..." Ed said.  
"Just shut-up and cooperate,Elric!" Pain said."You have no idea what it's like to have been dead"  
"My right arm and left leg are dead, if you haven't noticed"  
"Pain, why do want to become human? Why not just let us kill you and it will al be done?" Al said.  
"Do you think I want to admit my defeat to the Elric brothers? No, I don't," Pain responded.  
Suddenly, Ed thrust the axe he was holding onto his right srm, the metal one.  
"Winry's gonna be pissed!" Edward said."Torture, I'll commit suicide if that's what it takes to get you out of my head"  
"Ed, don't be stupid!" Al said to his older brother.  
Al drew a transmutation circle on the ground while no one was looking. He went up to Ed and pushed him into the circle, clapped his hands, and there was blue glowing light everywhere.  
"ARGHHGHGHAGHAGHAA!" Ed yelled in pain."AL! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME"  
"I'm getting Torture out of your head. You should be thanking me," Alphonse said.  
Suddenly a ghostly figure arose out of Ed. They could see him come into focus, ands they could see his orborous on his back on the upper left side.  
"Man, that was too fun," Torture said. He looked very much like a boy in his mid-teens.  
"Come to think of it, Al, they both look like a couple of teenagers!" Ed said to Al.  
"I told you to prepare to die before, Elrics. I hope your ready now!" Pain said.  
Suddenly, Torture smiled and his vampire-like teeth were bared. He came rushing towards Ed and scratched him in the back before Ed had a chance to duck. He was bleeding very hard.  
"So, those are your powers? Sharp teeth and claws and the ability to get inside someone's head?" Ed said.  
"Nice guess," Torture said to Ed as he took another swipe at him, but missed.  
Pain snapped her fingers and they were in another field, only this was one was dark and gloomier.  
"Now this is my kind of place! Nice choice, Pain; the place we first met," Torture said.  
"Brings back so many alive memories...kind of depressing..." Pain said.  
"Let's get rid of these two; I got things to do and people to see," Torture said.  
Pain snapped her fingers and she turned a nearby rock that was sticking out of the ground into a javelin. She swung it around a few times and then stuck it through her stomach. Since she was a himunculi, she doesn't die easily. She swung the javelin several times, Ed trying as hard as he could to dodge the javelin and blows from Torture. It was kind of hard, since he had no right arm.  
"Al, you can jump in any time!" Ed said, Torture missing Eds head by a hair, literally.  
"Brother, I can't move!" Al exclaimed.  
"What the hell did you to my brother!" Ed yelled at Pain and Torture.  
"I turned the part of his mind that controls his movement into an amorphous substance,"Pain and Torture said at the same time.  
"I-CAN'T-MOVE!" Al said impatiently.  
"Don't worry, Al, I'll fix you," Ed assured his little brother."I'll do whatever it takes."

(A/N): I know a lot of things r rong on here, but i think its good so far. i dont know how many chapters there r going to be, but most likely 10. i hope you all like it so far; ive on this fanfic for days on end. btw,ppl, PLZ COMMENT! now go sit patiently for the next sum chapters... BOOOMM!  
O, yea, HI AMBTHONY BOB! Mwahahahahaahaaa! 


	6. Sloth's Revelation

Chapter 6: Sloth's Revelation

"Greed!" Envy said impatiently."Either you tell me now or I feed you to Gluttony and you'll be stuck in his bottomless pit forever"  
"That was mine," Lust said.  
"Envy, do what you want because I'm not telling," Greed said patiently.  
"Why do you always act so calm?" Wrath asked him."You're never intimidated by Envy"  
"I'm used to him. He's mostly just talk," Greed replied.  
"What do you mean 'all talk'?" Envy said, infuriated.  
"I mean that you don't do a lot of what you say you're going to do," Greed said.  
"Envy, why don't you settle down? You're always mad at someone or something," Lust pointed out.  
"Burn in hell, Lust!" "Wanna try saying that again?" Lust said, extending her fingernails.  
"I'll be back. I need to let off some steam..." Envy said as he walked off.  
He went into the forest and didn't return for at least an hour.  
"What were you doing?" Wrath asked him.  
"None of your buisness, kid," Envy replied, looking very tired and worn out.  
"Probably getting us dinner," Gluttony whispered to Wrath.  
"You think? Because I'm really hungry..."

IN THE MYSTERIOUS PLAIN...

"Pain, please stop! You're going to kill him!" Al yelled.  
"That's the plan," Pain replied.  
Suddenly, they heard yells and they turned to see Colonel Roy Mustang and First Leieutenant Riza Hawkeye running towards them screaming Ed and Al's names.  
"ROY! RIZA!" Ed yelled.  
"Damn, the military has to get involved? Pain, let's go," Torture said.  
Snap. The both of them were gone in an instant.  
"Roy! I'm so glad you're here! Did you see those two himunculi?" Al said. Riza pushed hard on Al to get him unstuck.  
"I'm guessing those two were Pain and Torture?"Roy said.  
"You guessed right. Torture can take over and control other people's minds. He also has razor-sharp teeth and claws. Look what he did to my back," Ed said as he pointed to the deep, bloody wound on his back."He also chopped off my metal right arm. Winry is gonna be so pissed"  
"He sounds like one tough cookie, at least now we know what we're up against," Roy said.  
"What do you mean 'we'?" Ed said slyly.  
"You're right; he's your enemy. You fight him and get killed"  
"Shut-up, Roy"  
"Colonel, I can see the two markings on Edwards left arm that seem like himunculi symbols," Riza said.  
"Very good obsevation, Riza. I see them, too," Roy said as he examined Eds arm.  
"Get off me, Roy!" Ed exclaimed.  
"I'm not on you. I'm only looking at your arm"  
"Well, look with your eyes not your hands. I don't want you touching me!" Ed said."Just get get me a train back to Risembool. I need a new arm"  
"If you wish..." Roy said as he sighed.

AT THE TRAIN STATION...

"Ed, I wish you good luck on your journey," Riza said.  
"Thank you, Riza," Al said.  
"We'll be seeing you, Riza," Ed said as she walked away.  
They got on the train and sat down next to an old man who seemed to be sleeping.  
"We'd better keep quiet..." Ed whispered to Al.  
"Do you really have symbols on your arm?" Al asked him.  
"I don't really know. I haven't looked. Could you pull up my sleeve?" Ed asked.  
"Yeah..." Al said as he pulled up his sleeve. Ther indeed were two markings; on looked like an oroborous and the other looked like a symbol they had never seen before.  
"I wonder why I have these..." Ed said to himself. He stared down at the two marks.  
"Do you think maybe these came from when Torture was inside of me?" Ed asked Al.  
"I don't know. It's a strong possibility. He is a himunculous, of course," Al responded.  
"We'll see what Winry says when we get there..." Ed said as he drifted off to sleep.

Ed awoke at the sound of a train whistle. It was nighttime. They were at the Risembool Train Station.  
"RISEMBOOL! LAST STOP OF THE NIGHT! RISEMBOOL!" the train conductor yelled.  
"Ed, you're awake! Let's go," Al said.  
They got off the train and started walking to Winry Rockbell's house.  
"I sure hope she's home..." Ed said to nobody.  
They walked for about thirty minutes and they finally reached Winry's house. They knock on the door, hoping somebody would answer. They were in luck, Pinako answered the door.  
"Edward? Alphonse? What are you doing here?" Pinako asked them.  
"What, we're not welcome here anymore?" Ed said jokingly.  
"Grandma, is someone at the door?" Winry yelled.  
"Yes, Edward and Alphonse are here," Pinako yelled back at Winry.  
They immediately heard running footsteps and they saw Winry coming around the corner.  
"Yay! I haven't seen you guys in-" she stopped mid-sentence at the sight of Ed's arm, which wasn't there.  
"EDWARD ELRIC! WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR ARM!" Winry yelled at the top of her lungs.  
"Winry, I can explain. Torture cut it off in battle"  
"And who is this Torture? Just some made-up character of yours!(no, mine! LOL!) Winry said angrily.  
"Winry, please settle down! We have a guest, might I remind you," Pinako said.  
"Who is it?" Al asked Pinako.  
"She said her name was Juliet," Pinako replied.  
They walked into the kitchen where "Juliet" was.  
"What was all that yelling?" Juliet asked.  
"Oh, nothing!" Winry said, trying to be innocent."I'll work on your new arm in the morning, Edward.  
"Sit down and have dinner with us," Pinako said to the Elric brothers.

After dinner, Ed went to his old bedroom and layed down, deep in thought.  
"That 'Juliet' or whatever, looks so much like my mother...I wonder where she came from..." Ed said as he started feeling sleepy.  
"Al, who was that woman that was at dinner"  
"I know what you're thinking. She looks so much like Mom," Al said.  
"I know...I want to know more about her; maybe she's Sloth..." Ed said.  
"She could be..." Al said.  
"Well, I'm tired. Good night, Al"  
"Good night, Brother."

The next morning, Ed awoke and went downstairs to find Winry working on hi new automail arm.  
"Good morning Ed!" she said a little too happily."I'm nearly finished with your new arm"  
"Winr"  
"I talked to Al last night. He told me about your other arm and Torture. Sorry for accusing you about him being unreal," Winry said.  
"It's okay. I don't really know what's going on anymore...By the way, what was up with that one lady, Juliet?" Ed asked.  
"She's just someone who came up to our door ysterday before we started eating. She went out this morning for a walk. She said she doesn't remember anything about her past. I told her a lot about you two because she looks like Trisha so much, I thought she might actually be her. She took a lot of interest in you two." Winry said.  
"Well, thanks for telling me that. I'm going out to train."Ed said as he walked out the door to the field outside of Winry's house. He saw Juliet and walked up to her.  
"Who are you?" Ed said shakily.  
"I'm who you think I am. I'm your mother." Juliet responded.  
"How can you be? You're not as kind as she was," Ed said.  
"That doesn't prove a thing," she said.  
"It proves that you're not her!" Ed said.  
"I am," she said as she turned around,"but I'm also you're worst enemy"  
"What the hell does that mean?" Edward said, starting to get angry.  
"It means that..." her sentence trailed off as she tore her turtleneck off to reveal her oroborous."...I am also the himunculous"  
"I knew it!" Ed said.  
"ED!" Winry yelled out to Ed."YOUR AUTOMAIL'S READY TO BE PUT ON"  
"I'm coming!" Ed yelled back at her."I'll be back for you"  
"We'll see," Sloth said.  
Ed ran back to the house and saw Winry in the corner.  
"Winry, what's wrong?" Ed asked.  
"I saw the oroborous. I should have known! How could I have been so stupid!" Winry cried.  
"Winry, you're not stupid. Just put my automail on and we'll take care of her," Ed assured her. 


	7. Another Death

Chapter 7: Another Death

"AHHHHAHAGH! That hurts!" Edward Elric said as Winry Rockbell tightened a bolt on his automail leg.  
"Don't be such a baby, Ed!" Winry said.  
"I'll be back; I have some unfinished buisness with 'Juliet',"Ed said.  
"You talked to her? She seems really quiet," Winry said.  
"Yeah, and now I know why!" Ed said as he walked through the door to the field outside. He continued walking to the bank dropoff where he was talking to Sloth. She wasn't there.  
"Sloth! Where'd you go!" Ed said, starting to get angry."I know you're around here"  
"You guessed right. I'm down here," Sloth said."In the river"  
He peered down into it and the water was crystal clear; he could see the bottom of it.  
"Liar! Where are you? You're really pissing me off"  
Suddenly, a watery figure arose from the river, which dissolved into Sloth.  
"I'm where I said I was," Sloth said.  
"Why the hell are you here? Why are you bothering the Rockbells? They've never done anything to you!" Ed said.  
"I didn't come here on my own. Pain transported me here. I have no idea why, so if you have a problem, talk to her," Sloth said.  
"I wish I could. She took off somewhere without finishing our fight"  
"If you stayed in that battle any longer you could've gotten hurt worse than you did"  
"Oh, mom..." Ed ran up and hugged his mother. Sloth looked surprised, then hugged him back.  
"I wonder what that's about..." Winry said as she looked out her window at the two.  
"I'll return you to normal...I promise..." Ed whispered to Sloth before she turned herself into water and ran into the river.  
As Sloth floated in the river, she thought about Edward and Alphonse...Honhenheim...what happened?...how did she get like this?...why does she have these powers?...why does she have to hide the symbol that her friends have?...it all seemed so weird...

IN THE FOREST...

"Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, I've decided to reveal some of my plan," Greed said as he paced back and forth."We are going to use Sloth and her relationship with the Elrics to get the Scholar's Stone"  
"And just how are we going to do that?" Envy asked.  
"Well, I'd tell you, but I don't feel like it," Greed said.  
"Greed, I'd like to let you know that I hate your guts," Envy said.

AT THE ROCKBELLS...

Edward walked back to the Rockbell's house. Winry was running towards him as fast as she could.  
"What was that about?" Winry asked him.  
"You were right. That was Mom"  
"Did she tell you?" Winry asked.  
"Sort of," Ed said.  
"Ed! Colonel Mustang just called!" Alphonse said as he came out of the Rockbell's house.  
"Oh, yeah? What'd he want?" Ed asked.  
"He said Pain and Torture were tracked down. They're here, in Risembool"  
"WHAT!" Ed said.  
"So, Colonel Mustang told you about us? He's going first," Torture said with a sly grin on his face.  
"Torture!" "It's time to finish what I started," Torture said. He took a shot at Edward, who went flying backwards with force.  
Edward got up quickly and dusted himself off before getting his blade drawn and charging for Torture. He took three swipes at him, missing all three times.  
"Why are you here? What do you want?" Ed asked, still fighting.  
"I'm here to kill you, then look for Sloth," Torture responded calmly.  
"I don't know where Sloth is," Ed said.  
"I never asked you if you knew where she was," Torture said.  
Winry walked out of her house to see Ed and Torture fighting. She went back inside and grabbed a wrench.  
"Stop hurting Ed!" Winry said as she hit Torture with the wrench several times. Torture didn't even move.  
"Okay, this is just annoying," Torture said as he stuck his claws through Winry's midsection. Blood was everywhere.  
"Ed..." Winry said as she was shaking and dying.(A/N: I have nuthin against Winry. Plz dont be mad about her death, Winry fans)  
"WINRY!" Ed yelled. He dropped to his knees. He coudn't go through another death."Torture, you're going to pay for that!" He ran up to him and started slashing away.  
Al was fighting Pain, and she was turning the flower petals on the ground into small blades and forcing them to slowly scratch away the seal in Al's armor. He tried to deflect them as best as he could, but there was too many. He finally drew a circle on the ground and made it into a solid rock lance.  
"It's on!" Al yelled as he charged at Pain and slashed at her hands.  
"Pain, I feel Greed...Let's go..." Torture said shakily.  
"Gotcha," Pain said as she snapped her fingers and both of them instantly dissapeared.  
"Winry..." Ed said as he ran over to Winry."Winry, you can't die on me"  
"Ed...I've never told you...or anyone...but...I...love...y. . ." she went limp in Ed's arms.  
"WINRY! NOOOO"  
"Ed, there's nothing we can do..." Al said.  
"Al, just shut-up! You're not helping anything!" Ed said through tears.  
Without a word, Al walked into Winry's house to break the news to Pinako.  
"Winry...I love you...why did you have to go so soon"  
"Ed?" Sloth said."Ed, everything's going to be alright"  
"Torture...Torture killed her...she...she didn't stand a chance against him...he'll kill just anybody...he has no emotions"  
"Come here..." Sloth said. She held Ed close in her arms."I'm here. Everything will be okay."

The next day, everyone was at Winry's funeral. Ed was crying the entire time.  
"You really did love her, didn't you?" Al asked him.  
"...yea...look, I don't really want to talk right now..." Ed managed to say.  
"I see...I'll see you later then..." Al said before he walked off. Ed was alone now.  
"Winry...I'll miss so much...I never even got a chance to tell you how I really feel..." Ed whispered.  
"...she was trying to save me... it should be an equivilent exchange! What do I get! I feel like I'm only losing things and not gaining anything!" "I'm so sorry...about the girls death...I truly am..." Sloth said as she walked up to Edward, who was standing in front of Winry's grave.  
"Mom...First I lose Dad...then you...and now Winry. I lost my right arm and left leg. Al lost his entire body. We've gained nothing. We're only losing things! Why does it have to be this way"  
"I don't have the answers, Ed, but maybe with the help of the Scholar's Stone, you can bring her back, instead of me"  
"If I had my automail arm and leg remain the same, I could bring back the both of you. I could live with automail," Ed said.

"Ed, are you okay?" Al asked him a few days after the funeral in their old bedroom.  
"I think we should get on with our journey and put the past behind us," Ed said."I'm still sad about Winry, but I'll manage"  
"Good, because I just got word from Riza that Torture and Pain are in her custody," Al said happily.

(A/N:) I WANT TO LET YOU ALL NO THAT I AM NOT A WINRY HATER AND I DONT WANT HER TO DIE AND I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST HER! Plz, Winry-fans, dont be mad about her death and dont flame me! BTW, How do yalll like th story so far? w00t! Im working on it, like, nonstop.

FireflyDreamer 


	8. The Finding of Pain and Torture

Chapter 8: The Finding of Pain and Torture (its a crappy chapter title; deal with it)

"What do you mean, 'has custody'?" Edward Elric said to his brother Alphonse.  
"She found and captured them and did something to lock them up," Al responded.  
They walked out of their old bedroom and down the stairs. They saw Sloth talking to Pinako.  
"Again, I'm very sorry about the death of your granddaughter," Sloth said to her.  
"Thank you..." Pinako said.  
"Hey, Mom," Ed said. "I see you're feeling much better and happier, Edward," Sloth said."And Alphonse, you being in that suit is mainly my fault. I'm sorry"  
"No need to apologize, Mom," Al said."We'd better get going. We need to catch a train to central"  
"I'll be seeing you two," Sloth said."I'm staying here, so if you need me, I'll be here"  
Ed and Al walked out of the house and started for the Risembool Train Station. As they got closer, Ed took one last glance at where their house was.  
"Remember when we got in fights and no matter what I'd find you down by the river?" Ed asked Al.  
"Yeah, I remember..." Al replied."The good old days"  
They got to the station and purchased train tickets and waited for what seemed like hours for the next train to pull in. When it finally did, Ed was sleepy and hungry.  
"Al, could you go get me something to eat from the food cart thingy?" Ed asked Al when they got on the train.  
"Sure," Al replied as he got up to get it for him."I wonder what he wants..." He finally decided on some steak. But by the time he got back, Ed was sleeping like a baby. Al just sat down and sighed.

"Ed, wake up!" Al whispered to him.  
"Al, what do you want? It's the middle of the night!" Ed said groggily.  
"Well, I think I just heard something...a noise..." Al said, staring at the place where he thought he heard a noise.  
"You're being paranoid, let me go back to sleep"  
"Okay, Brother. I probably am being paranoid"  
Al sat thinking for a long time, but then he heard the same noise again in the same place.  
"I know I'm not being paranoid! This is creepy," Al said to himself.  
"Now I know you're not being paranoid; I just heard it too," Ed said as he immediately stood up straight. "You weren't really sleeping?" Al asked his older brother.  
"No, I wanted to see if you were right," Ed said as he got up and walked towards the area that made the noise. The noise was like a screeching sound mixed with a shimmering metal sound.(A/N: FRICKY)  
"There it is again!" Al said.  
"Al, I can see what's making the noise," Ed said laughing.  
"What?" Al asked eagerly.  
"A tin can got stuck under here and the train was scraping it up against the metal on the bottom if it," Ed said.(A/N: Huh)  
"Ed, are you sure that's what's making the noise?" Al aksed him.  
Ed took the tin can and scraped it against the metal on the bottom of the train. It made the same sound they heard earlier.  
"Yep!" Ed said happily."Now I can get back to sleep. Good night, Al."

Ed awoke when Al was calling his name and shaking him to get him up.  
"Ed, wake-up," Al said.  
"Wh-what? Huh? Oh, hey Al..." Ed said tiredly."Are we there yet"  
"No, not yet," Alsaid,"but I thought I should get you up"  
"How much longer do you thi"  
"CENTRAL!" the train conductor yelled.  
"Well, we're here," Al said.  
They got off the train and headed for Central Headquarters. Cheska (A/N: NTS, learn how to spell her name right) was running out of the building.  
"Cheska? What's wrong?" Al asked.  
"Oh, nothing! Just letting off a little steam!" Cheska said. She continued running until she got to a street sign and started panting.  
"Um...okay?" Ed said.  
Ed and Alphonse walked into Headquarters and Ed showed his watch thing to the lady at the desk so he could go through. They walked to Colonel Roy Mustang's office.  
"Colonel, where's Riza?" Ed asked him.  
"I don't know; I haven't seen her all day. What do you need her for?" Roy asked.  
"Well, she called us yesterday saying she had Pain and Torture in her custody, so we decided to come down and finish those two off," Al responded.  
"You might try the cafeteria," Roy suggested.  
"Yeah, I might," Ed said as he left.  
Ed and Al headed for the cafeteria to look for Riza. She wasn't anywhere.  
"Where the hell could she be?" Ed said, frustrated.  
"Let's keep looking," Al said.  
"Maybe she's not here..." Ed said.

"What the hell do you want with me? I haven't done anything wrong!" Riza Hawkeye yelled.  
"Well, we're trying to lure them here, if you must know," Envy said.  
Riza was in a large cage in an old deserted cabin in the middle of the Dissapors Forest.  
Envy changed his voice to sound like Riza's. He dialed a number on the phone nearby.  
"Hello, Colonel Mustang," Envy said.  
"Hawkeye? Where are you at? Edward and Alphonse stopped by about ten minutes ago looking for you," Roy said.  
"I'm...uh... out of town. I've taken Pain and Torture to a secure location. Tell the Elrics to come to a cabin on the outskirts of town; I'll meet them there," Envy said.  
"I'll be sure to tell them. Good day, Hawkeye," Roy said before he hung up.  
"Heheh. They'll come," Envy said in his normal voice.

"Elrics! I'm glad I found you. Riza just called. She does, in fact, have Pain and Torture. She says to meet her in an old cabin on the outskirts of town so she can take you to them," Roy said to Ed and Al as he saw them walking by his office.  
"Good. Sounds a little fishy, but oh well. We'll be seeing you, Colonel," Ed said as they left. 


	9. Memory

Chapter 9: Memory

"What the hell does he mean by 'on the outskirts of town'?" Edward Elric asked.  
"You mean, like, where?" Alphonse asked his older brother.  
"Yeah! He never told us which direction to g-" Ed stopped suddenly at the sight of an arrow being drawn on the ground in the dust pointing to a cabin off into the distance.  
"Uh...that was weird," Al said."I guess we must have missed it"  
"Yeah..." Ed said slowly. As the Elric brothers werewalking towards the cabin, Torture dissolved into appearance seemingly from the air with a stick in his hand.  
"Pain, it won't be long now," Torture said and walked away and dissolved again.

"Well, we're finally gonna get our revenge!" Ed said as they approached the door.  
"We should open it," Al said.(A/N: NO PHUCKIN' DUH)  
The two brothers opened the door.  
"Surprise," Envy said before started fighting with Ed.  
"ED! AL!" Riza said in a muffled voice.  
"Huh? What was that!" Al asked as he tried to pull Envy off of Ed.  
"EDWARD!" Riza yelled again.  
"Envy, do you have someone in there?" Ed asked angrily.  
"Naturally," Envy said coolly.  
"Dammit!" Ed said as he ran into the cabin to find Riza bound and gagged in a cage with cuts all over her.  
"RIZA!" Al yelled.  
Ed clapped his hands and layed them on the cage Riza was in. It broke apart immediately. "Riza are you okay?" Ed asked as he took the piece of cloth out of Riza's mouth.  
"Ed, look out!" Riza yelled. Envy was running into the cabin, ready to attack. Ed reacted immediately and pulled his blade out. Envy took the first blow to the stomach by Ed's blade.  
"Come on, don't you think one time is enough to die?" Envy said.  
"So you really do have a hard time dying," Ed said.  
"Yeah, kind of a pain, but oh well," Envy said as he kicked at Ed a few times.  
As Ed and Envy were fighting, Al was untying Riza's bonds.  
"Thanks, Al," Riza said as Al undid the last one.  
"Oh, and just a word of advice: Don't shoot at Envy. He's a himunculous; he can never die unless by a particular strategy that you'd need to figure out on your own," Al said to Riza.  
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," Riza replied.  
As Al and Riza turned to face the battle at the same time, Ed continued fighting Envy. Ed slashed at Envy a few times, dodging his kicks and punches in between.  
"Enough, Envy," Lust said as she walked into the cabin.  
"Where'd you come from?" Envy asked."You're supposed to be with Greed"  
"And where do you think Greed is?" Lust said as Greed walked into the cabin.  
"Miss me?" Greed said casually.  
"Not a chance!" Ed said as he charged towards him.  
"Hold it, shorty!" Greed said as he held his hand out and grabbed Ed's head to stop him.  
"Who are you calling a tiny bug that escapes the wrath of a shoe because he's so small that he fits in the grooves and can't get squashed!" "Uh...I didn't say that," Greed said, puzzled.  
"So where's Torture and Pain?" Ed asked.  
"I'm not telling you," Greed said.  
"Let me save you the trouble," everyone heard Torture's voice say.  
"We can come out now, Torture," Pain's voice said.  
Pain and Torture's bodies absorbed into appearance.  
"Well, well, well, you came," Torture said slyly.  
"We thought you were captured! This was all a trick!" Al said.  
"Compliments of Envy," Pain said.  
"'Ohhh, help me, Ed! I'm in trouble!'" Envy said mockingly in Riza's voice.  
"Stop it!" Ed said.  
"Why should we?" Lust said.  
"Because I said so!" Ed said charging for Lust, his blade out.  
Lust slashed at him with her dagger-like fingernails(A/N: thing). Ed dodged the first few blows, but then got cut on his midsection twice. Ed returned it by slicing a chunk of Lust's midsection.(A/N: itsh all gorey)  
"Wow, you're a hyper little midget, aren't you?" Greed said.  
"Oh yes, I'm so small that you can't see me amongst the grains of sand, like always!" Ed said."Could you stop it with the short jokes already?" He slashed at Lust a few more times and then clapped his hands and sent forth a wave of wood pieces from the ground. It sent Lust falling backwards.  
"Heh. Who's the ultra-hyper midget now!" Ed said. But then, Lust got back up again, with wood chips sticking out of her body, blood dripping from the cuts.  
"That may have hurt, but you know you can't kill me by throwing a little wood at me," said Lust slyly.  
"Shut-up! I know!" Ed said angrily, slashing at her some more.  
Al started fighting Envy to keep him busy. Al punched Envy and then kicked him three times to get him to the floor. Envy immediately got up again and charged at Al. Al only went back a few inches as he tried to get to Envy.  
"Hey, tin can, you're not going to get me; I'm to fast for you," Envy said, jumping everywhere.  
"That may be, but I still have the upper hand!" Al said.  
"And how is this?" Envy asked.  
"I can use alchemy," Al said, drawing a simple transmutation circle, clapping his hands, and then a bluish glow appeared and created a sword. Al picked it up and charged for Envy.  
"Envy, retreat," Torture commanded, sounding bored."Enough of this child's play.  
"Torture's right; this is getting stupid," Pain agreed."Envy, Lust, Greed, leave. We'll finish them off"  
"And how do you propose to do that?" Lust said.  
"Don't worry about it, just go," Torture said as the three homunculi left the cabin, which was now a complete wreck.  
"So, you're going to kill us, eh?" Ed said."Then how will that help you find the Scholar's Stone"  
"You're forgetting that I can steal people's memories; I can get all the information I need from you"  
"Oh, yeah, I forgot," Ed said."Why is it that you have so many powers? I mean, all the other homunculi have only one power, yet you two seem to have at least five"  
"First of all, we weren't created the exact same way the others were," Torture said.  
"What's the second?" Al asked.  
"Um... that you're going to die," Torture said."Pain, start the memory extraction"  
"You got it," Pain said as her hands started to glow blue, but then changed to purple. She drew a sort of circle on the ground.  
"A transmutation circle!" Ed and Al said in unison.  
"Heh. You also forgot that I'm the only homunculous who is trained in alchemy," Pain said as she clapped her hands and then placed them on the circle. There was a bluish glow throughout the room and suddenly Ed and Al started to feel woozy.  
"Al, let's get out of here!" Ed said as he started for the door. 


	10. Brother

Chapter 10: Brother

"Don't think you're getting out of this without a fight!" Torture said chasing after Edward and Alphonse Elric as they were heading for the door.  
"Oh, yeah? That's what you think!"(A/N: that was so corny) Ed said as he tried to stop Torture by slashing at him with his blade.  
Torture dodged every move and then tripped Ed after the flurry of slashes and hits. Ed fell to the floor, but then got right back up. He felt a strange sensation overcome him, and there was more bluish glows, like lightning. Ed felt dizzy, and then fell to the floor, and blacked out.  
"BROTHER!..." He heard Al say before Ed closed his eyes.

"Ughhh...wh...what happened?" Ed said as he finally awoke."Where am I"  
"Brother?" Al asked.  
"Brother? What? I'm not your brother! Who are you?" Ed asked.  
"Ed! He's lost his memory..." Al said."Do you know who you are"  
"Yeah, I'm Edward Elric, but who the hell are you?" Ed asked Al.  
"I'm Alphonse Elric, your brother!" Al said.  
"Liar! I don't have a brother! Why don't you take that suit off and prove that you're my brother"  
"I-I can't"  
"And why not"  
"Okay, you asked for it..." Al said as he took off the head of the armor. Ed peered down into the armor and.  
"OH MY GOD! THERE'S NOTHING IN THERE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!" Ed screamed. He tried to run away, but ran into a tree and fell down.  
"Pain must have erased every memory he had of me..." Al said.  
"Wha- What do you want? Are you some kind of monster? What are you?" Ed asked.  
"I'm your little brother, Alphonse! Don't you remember? Our mom died and"  
"Don't you mean MY mom? And how do you know all of this? Are you some kind of stalker?" "No! I've already told you, I'm your little brother, Al. I'll take you to the Colonel; he'll straighten things out..." Als said.  
"The Colonel? You mean Colonel Mustang? Why should we go to him? I hate him!" Ed said.  
"Then we'll go to Pinako"  
"Why should I trust you?" Ed said.  
"Okay...do you remember Pain and Torture?" Al said calmly.  
"Yeah...but what does that have to do with anything?" Ed said.  
"Pain must have erased all of your memories of me, so you'd turn your back on me and help them!" Al said.  
"I have no reason to side with them, or turn my back on you. But don't get me wrong, I stll don't trust you," Ed said.  
"So you'll go to Pinako's with me and straighten this out"  
"I guess..." Ed replied.

The two Elric brothers walked to the nearest train station and waited for a train to come and pick them up and take them to Risembool. When the train finally came, Ed and Al boarded quickly.  
"I'm not sitting with you," Ed said to Al when he passed him in the aisle. He went two seats ahead of Al and sat down.  
"Ed," Al said."Why not"  
"Because I don't know if you're planning to kill me or something like that," Ed said.  
"Why would I kill my own brother!" Al said.  
"We still have no proof that you're my brother. We'll see what Pinako says. I'm going to bed; don't try any funny stuff."

When Ed awoke, he found Al staring at him.  
"AHHHH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!" Ed screamed.  
"Brother! I'm sorry!" Al said apologetically.  
"Quit calling me 'brother'," Ed said.  
"I'm sorry; that's just what I called you. I guess it's a habit"  
They arrived in Risembool shortly("QUIT CALLING ME SHORT!" lol!) and Ed and Al headed for Pinako Rockbell's house. Al knocked on the door and Pinako answered and invited them in. Sloth was there, fusing her hand with the water in a cup in front of her.  
"Ed, Al, I'm glad you came back!...why did you come back?" Sloth asked.  
"You're gonna laugh! This hunk of metal here claims he's my brother!" Ed said.  
Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.  
"What?" Ed said.  
"Let me explain. We were looking for Pain and Torture and Riza told us she found them.We went to Central looking for her, but she wasn't there. Riza called Roy and told him to tell us to meet her in a cabin. We went there and found out that Envy kidnapped Riza and impersinated her to lure us there. We fought Lust, Greed, Envy, Torture and Pain, but then some left and left Pain and Torture to kill us. They didn't, thankfully. They took away all of Ed's memories of me to make our journey more difficult. And that's what happened," Al said.  
"Um..." Pinako started.  
"Are you serious? He is my brother? Everything he said was true?" Ed said.  
"Yes, Edward," Sloth said.  
"Sorry, Al," Ed said.  
"No need to apologize; you didn't know," Al said."Pain did this"  
"I feel so bad," Ed said.  
"Ed, get some rest. You've been through a lot," Pinako said.  
"You're right. I'll see you all later. Good night," Ed said as he walked up the stairs to his room. "I don't get it," Ed said to himself when he reached his room,"Why don't I remember my own brother"  
He walked to his bed and sat down. He looked at his bedside table and saw a picture of him and another kid with hazelish eyes and golden-brown hair.  
"That must be him," Ed said."But what's with the armor? There's nothing in it! What the hell's going on!"

"Brother?" Al said as he walked in his room about two hours later. The lights were turned off and Ed was asleep on his bed.  
"He's asleep...I'd better go before I wake him up," Al whispered to himself.  
"Al...don't leave," Ed said."Why isn't there anyone in that suit of armor"  
"Well...do you remember when we tried to bring Mom back?" Al asked him.  
"Yeah...but you weren't there"  
"Actually, I was. But you don't remember me. My body was taken away for the equivilent exchange to try to bring her back. You sacrificed your right arm to transmute my soul to a suit of armor. And that's why it's empty"  
"Really...Wh-... . . .Never mind..."Ed said.  
"No, what? Tell me!" Al persisted.  
"No, just go..." Ed said and shooed him out of the room.

IN THE FOREST...

"Well...now what are we going to do? The Elrics are getting closer and closer to figuring out our plan!" Greed said to Pain and Torture. They were all three in a large room made out of bark but kept lighted by a small fire.  
"I erased the memories of that tin can from Ed. For all he knows, he doesn't even have a brother," Pain said.  
"It'll slow them down quite a lot, so we'll have time to start the plan," Torture said."I'll call Sloth now"  
As Torture got up to call Sloth, Pain got up and turned a pile of firewood into boards of wood. A snake slithered by and she immediately changed a board of wood into a wooden stake and killed the snake. "Hm. One of Martel's friends, I suppose, coming to get revenge on her death. Well, you can't! That bastard Pride killed her, not us! Why would I kill my own friend?" She yelled at the dead snake.  
"Geez, it's dead!" Greed said."She was one of my comrades, too, so don't say I don't understand"  
"I'm sorry, Greed. I just can't believe him...She did nothing wrong..." Pain said as she started to cry.  
"Let it go, Pain," Torture said softly as he held her in his embrace."It's alright. I got a hold of Sloth. She said the plan's coming along great." 


	11. Human Transmutation

Chapter 11: Human Transmutation

"Brother," Alphonse said to Ed,"we have to go after Pain and Torture"  
"You're right," Ed responded."We need to get my memory back. Where do you think they could be"  
"Brother, do you remember the forest we saw outside of the cabin?" Al asked him.  
"Yeah," Ed said."What about it"  
"I think that's the Dissapora Forest where the homunculi hide," Al said.  
"You could be right...but we'll need to go check it out"  
They rode a train to Central and headed for the cabin that they were at before. Sure enough, they found a forest. They entered it and were prepared for the worst.

When they entered the forest, they ran into a clearing and saw a house-like object off into the distance. They ran up to it and Ed clapped his hands and set them down on the house. It came crashing down to reveal the homunculi Pain, Torture, and Greed.  
"The Elrics!" Greed yelled.  
"Yeah, you think we don't see them?" Torture said."What do you want? Oh, let me answer that for you, 'I want my memory back!'. Well, you're out of luck, kid"  
"Who are you calling a kid! I am not so short that I'm barely visible and hard to target!" Ed yelled.  
"What? Ugh, never mind. Let's fight!" Torture said as he ran towards Ed.  
Ed ran forward also, with his blade ready. He slashed at him a few times, leaving gashes in Torture's side. Torture slashed back, ripping Ed's coat(A/N: teh red cloak thing.) Al joined the fighting, punching Torture and knocking him to the ground.  
"You know, Greed, you can jump in any time!" Torture said as he got up.  
"Nah, I prefer to watch," Greed said with a grin on his face.  
Suddenly, Pain came running up to Torture. She whispered something in his ear, and then there was a bluish glow. Pain was using alchemy again. Ed felt a rushing sensation, and all these images appeared in his head. They were of him and the golden-brown haired kid. They were playing, talking, reading, and then the human transmutation appeared. He remembered! He got his memory back! He closed his eyes and fell to the ground.

When Ed awoke, he heard Al crying. All of the homunculi were gone.  
"Al? What's wrong?" Ed said.  
"Brother? You're okay? I thought they killed you!" Al said, relieved.  
"Well, they didn't kill me, but I got my memory back," Ed said.  
"Really? That's great!" Al said.  
Suddenly, something blue caught his eye. It was glowing, and Ed walked towards it.  
"No...this can't be it...Al"  
"Brother? What's wrong?" Al asked, confused.  
"I think...I think we've found the Scholar's Stone!" Ed yelled.  
"Ed, keep your voice down," Al warned him,"The homunculi might still be around somewhere"  
"Sorry," Ed apologized."I thought they might have left the forest...Wow...I can't believe we found it! It was right underneath th homunculi's noses"  
"Well, it could be a fake, like last time at the docks"  
"Let's find out. Do you want to"  
"Why is it up to me"  
"Because we're going to use you to try to get your body back"  
"What"  
"You heard me, we're using you to see if it's the real thing"  
"Okay. Let's do it!" Al said.  
Ed drew a very detailed human transmutation circle, and Al walked to the middle of it. Ed held the Scholar's Stone in his hands, then traced the circle with the Stone. It glowed blue.  
"Al, you ready for this"  
"Yeah"  
Ed clapped his hands and then layed them on the circle.  
"The Stone consists of body, soul, and spirit, or water. Our whole world is of, and by, our water, which dissolves the bodies not into water, but by a true scholical solution into the water whence metals are extracted, and is calcined and reduced to earth. Pale white and black with false critine, imperfect white and red. And after these shall appear the substance invarible." Ed said.  
Suddenly, the circle turned blue and a burst of white light blinded Ed. He could hear the faint cries of his brother as he fainted.

Ed slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw was amazing. He saw his brother, not in a metal body, but a normal, human body.  
"Alphonse? It was real? It worked? Aphonse!" Ed cried as he gave his brother a hug.  
"Brother, I can feel again! This is amazing! Thank you so much!" Al yelled.  
They both stood up and Ed was up to Al's chin. "What! You can't be taller than me! I'm not an ultra-hyper super-short kid who can't be seen because he's smaller than a tick!" Ed cried.  
"Brother? We still have to get Mom back to the way she was," Al said.  
"Yeah, we have to go back to Risembool," Ed said."Get the Stone and let's go"  
They walked out of the forest and back into town to the train station, purchased their tickets, and boarded the train when it came. Ed fell asleep immediately, while Al was walking around the train trying to get used to his human limbs. After about an hour, Al got sleepy and went to bed next to Ed.

In the morning, the train whistle woke Ed and Al up. They were in Risembool. They got off the train and headed for Pinako's house. They knocked on the door to let them know they were here and then walked inside. "Ed? Is that you? Who's your friend?" Pinako asked.  
"It's me, Alphonse!" Al answered for Ed.  
"Really? Heheh. You're taller than Ed!" Pinako said.  
"Well, everybody's taller than you, old hag," Ed muttered. Pinako threw a pan at him.  
"Ouch! Where's Mom?" Ed said.  
"She left. She said her friends needed her to do something for her"  
"I guess we'll just wait for her to get back," Al said.  
"Yeah..."

Ed walked up to his room, Al tagging along.  
"You know, you don't have to follow me everywhere I go," Ed told Al.  
"I know, I just want to," Al replied.  
The two of them walked into their room and Ed layed down on his bed. Al sat down next to him.  
"You have your own bed, you know," Ed said."I'm not trying to shoo you away or anything." he added at the look on Al's face.  
"I understand..." Al said as he walked over to his own bed.  
Suddenly the two boys heard a whimpering sound. It was coming from outside their window. Al got up and walked over to it, looked oustdide and saw a kitten. Ed stayed on his bed. Al jumped out of the window to get the kitten and Ed didn't know the kiten was there.  
"AL! What the hell are you doing!" Ed yelled as he ran after him. He saw Al on the ground with the kitten.  
"Heh. You sure do love cats!" Ed said.  
"They're just so cute and adorable and swwet and nice and huggable and loveable and a whole bunch of other things that I can't think of right now!" Al said.  
"Geez! I didn't know you liked them that much!" Ed said.  
"I haven't touched one or felt one for so long..." Al said.  
"Suck it up already!" the Elrics heard Envy say.  
"Where did you come from!" Ed said.  
"I came from a failed human transmutation, but I thought you already knew that," Envy said."You're coming with me"  
"And what makes you think I will?" Ed said.  
"Oh, you will. And we'll take your friend too!" Envy said.  
"I'm Alphonse Elric! His brother! Not a friend!" Al yelled.  
"Oh, so you two have the Scholar's Stone? And you returned him to normal?" Envy said."Pain, teleport them now"  
In an instant, they were back in the Dissapora Forest. Pain and Torture were standing there like they were waiting for them.  
"Let's make a deal, Elric," Torture said."I'm not usually so 'nice', but I was asked to"  
"What kind of deal?" Ed said.  
"You love that Winry girl that I murdered, right?" Torture said as he pointed to Winry's dead body "...yes...But what does that have to do with a deal"  
"I can bring her back"  
Ed stared at him. "No! This is some kind of trick"  
"Watch," Torture said as he jumped up and killed a flying bird with his claws. Pain made a transmutation circle on the ground and placed the bird in it. She clapped her hands and layedthem doen on the circle. There was a bluish glow and then the bird was instantaneously (A/N: i cant spell...) brought back to life.  
"How the hell did you do that! No human can do that!" Ed yelled.  
"You're forgetting something," Pain said."I'm not human"  
"We can bring that girl back," Torture said.  
"I'm sure you can, but what's the catch?" Ed asked.  
"Oh, nothing huge, just that I get to take one of your friends and transfer all of their life into her," Torture said.  
"That's murder! It's not worth it..." Ed yelled.  
"Okay, suit yourself. You're never going to get her back, " Torture said as he began to walk away.  
"Wait! Okay...do the transmutation"  
"Oh, goodey! This will be fun," Torture said."You have to agree, though. There's no turning back once you do this"  
"I'm ready," Ed said.  
"Pain, who do you feel like killing?" Torture asked.  
"How about...Alphonse!" Pain said. Torture immediately grabbed up Al.  
"You can't do this! He's my little brother! Don't take him away from me..." Ed sobbed as Torture stood before him with Al.  
"We had a deal, Elric. A life for a life. I got to choose. You want the girl back, right"  
"I don't want you to take Alphonse! I just returned him to his normal state!" Ed said through tears.  
"ED! BROTHER...!" Al screamed as Pain clapped her hands and started the human transmutation. In an instant, all life was drained out of Alphonse into Winry.  
"ALPHONSE! No..This can't be happening not again"  
He closed his eyes and cried uncontrolably(A/N: i still cant spell...) He didn't realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up. Alphonse's body was still there, and Winry was alive, but in a deep sleep. Pain and Torture had dissapeared. He must have been crying in his sleep because his face was saoked. He tried to wake Winry up, but she just rolled over. He picked up Alphonse and slung him on his back. He tried to wake Winry one more time. Her eyelids flickered, then she awoke.  
"Ed? What the hell? Where am I? What happened?" she asked.  
Then Ed told her everything.

A/N: ok! its dun. yep, that was the end. AHA! but theres another fic im writing that takes place two years after this. neway, i hope you all liked the fic! SHEE YOU ALL L8ER! (oh, nd sorry abput this last chapter being so long!)

FireflyDreamer 


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